LEDs are getting smaller and smaller, and the newest generations of indexable RGB LEDs are even fiddlier to use than their already diminutive predecessors. [Alex Lorman] has written some notes about the minuscule SK6805-EC10 series of LEDs, which may be helpful to those wanting to learn how to deal with these in a more controlled manner.

Most hardware types will be very familiar with the 5050-sized devices, sold as Neopixels in some circles, which are so-named due to being physically 5.0 mm x 5.0 mm in the horizontal dimensions. Many LEDs are specified by this simple width by depth manner. As for addressable RGB LEDs (although not all addressable LEDs are RGB, there are many weird and wonderful combinations out there!) the next most common standard size down the scale is the 2020, also known as the ‘Dotstar.’ These are small enough to present a real soldering challenge, and getting a good placement result needs some real skills.

[Alex] wanted to use the even smaller EC10 or 1111 devices, which measure a staggering 1.1 mm x 1.1 mm! Adafruit’s product page mentions that these are not intended for hand soldering, but we bet you want to try! Anyway, [Alex] has created a KiCAD footprint and a handy test PCB for characterizing and getting used to handling these little suckers, which may help someone on their way. They note that hot air reflow soldering needs low temperature paste (this scribe recommends using MG Chemicals branded T3 Sn₄₂Bi₅₇Ag₁ paste in this application) and a very low heat to avoid cracking the cases open. Also, a low air flow rate to prevent blowing them all over the desk would also be smart. Perhaps these are more suited to hot plate or a proper convection oven?

As a bonus, [Alex] has previously worked with the slightly larger SK6805-1515 device, with some good extra notes around an interesting nonlinearity effect and the required gamma correction to get good colour perception. We’ll leave that to you readers to dig into. Happy soldering!

We’ve not yet seen many projects using these 1111 LEDs, but here’s one we dug up using the larger 1515 unit.

Many of us use touch pads daily on our laptops, but rarely do we give much thought about what they really do. In fact they are a PCB matrix of conductive pads, with a controller chip addressing it and sensing the area of contact. Such a complex and repetitive pattern can be annoying to create by hand in an EDA package, so [Timonsku] has written a script to take away the work.

It starts with an OpenSCAD script (originally written by Texas Instruments, and released as open source) that creates a diamond grid, which can be edited to the required dimensions and resolution. This is then exported as a DXF file, and the magic begins in a Python script. After adjustment of variables to suit, it finishes with an Eagle-compatible board file which should be importable into other EDA packages.

We’ve never made a touchpad ourselves, but having dome other such repetitive PCB tasks we feel the pain of anyone who has. Looking at this project we’re struck by the thought that its approach could be adapted for other uses, so it’s one to file away for later.

This isn’t the first home-made touchpad project we’ve brought you.

For those who love systems and structure, owning a 19-inch rack with just one slot filled is just not it. But what if the rest of your gear isn’t 19-inch? Well, then you go out and make it so, just like [Cal Bryant] did recently.

The goal was to consolidate multiple devices — DAC, input selector, streamer, and power routing — into a single 2U rackmount unit. His first attempts involved drilling 1U panels to attach gear with removable faceplates. That worked, but not all devices played nice. So his next step became a fully custom enclosure with CAD-modeled brackets and front panels.

OpenSCAD turned out to be a lifesaver, letting [Cal] design modular mounting solutions. Exporting proper circles for CNC turret punching however appeared to be a nightmare. It was FreeCAD to the rescue for post-processing. After some sanding and auto-shop painting, the final faceplate looked factory-made.

Custom switch boxes for power and audio routing keep things tidy, housing everything from USB to XLR inputs. A 4-pole switch even allows seamless swapping between his DAC and DJ controller, while UV-printed graphics bring the finishing touch to this project. For those looking to clean up their Hi-Fi setup (or just love modding for the sake of it), there’s a lot to learn from this build.

If buying a rack is not within your budget, you could start with well-known IKEA LACK furniture.

Not that it’s the kind of thing that pops into your head often, but if you ever do think of a cyanotype print, it probably doesn’t conjure up thoughts of modern technology. For good reason — the monochromatic technique was introduced in the 1840s, and was always something of a niche technology compared to more traditional photographic methods.

The original method is simple enough: put an object or negative between the sun and a UV-sensitive medium, and the exposed areas will turn blue and produce a print. This modernized concept created by [Gabe] works the same way, except both the sun and the negative have been replaced by a lightly modified resin 3D printer.

A good chunk of the effort here is in the software, as [Gabe] had to write some code that would take an image and turn it into something the printer would understand. His proof of concept was a clever bit of Python code that produced an OpenSCAD script, which ultimately converted each grayscale picture to a rectangular “pixel” of variable height. The resulting STL files could be run through the slicer to produce the necessary files to load into the printer. This was eventually replaced with a new Python script capable of converting images to native printer files through UVtools.

On the hardware side, all [Gabe] had to do was remove the vat that would usually hold the resin, and replace that with a wooden lid to both hold the UV-sensitized paper in place and protect the user’s eyes. [Gabe] says there’s still some room for improvement, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at some of the gorgeous prints he’s produced already.

No word yet on whether or not future versions of the project will support direct-to-potato imaging.

Do you do PCB design for a living? Has KiCad been just a tiny bit insufficient for your lightning-fast board routing demands? We’ve just been graced with the KiCad 9 release (blog post, there’s a FOSDEM talk too), and it brings features of the rank you expect from a professional-level monthly-subscription PCB design suite.

Of course, KiCad 9 has delivered a ton of polish and features for all sorts of PCB design, so everyone will have some fun new additions to work with – but if you live and breathe PCB track routing, this release is especially for you.

One of the most flashy features is multichannel design – essentially, if you have multiple identical blocks on your PCB, say, audio amplifiers, you can now route it once and then replicate the routing in all other blocks; a stepping stone for design blocks, no doubt.

Other than that, there’s a heap of additions – assigning net rules in the schematic, dragging multiple tracks at once, selectively removing soldermask from tracks and tenting from vias, a zone fill manager, in/decrementing numbers in schematic signal names with mousewheel scroll, alternate function display toggle on symbol pins, improved layer selection for layer switches during routing, creepage and acute angle DRC, DRC marker visual improvements, editing pad and via stacks, improved third-party imports (specifically, Eagle and Altium schematics), and a heap of other similar pro-level features big and small.

Regular hackers get a load of improvements to enjoy, too. Ever wanted to add a table into your schematic? Now that’s doable out of the box. How about storing your fonts, 3D models, or datasheets directly inside your KiCad files? This, too, is now possible in KiCad. The promised Python API for the board editor is here, output job templates are here (think company-wide standardized export settings), there’s significantly more options for tweaking your 3D exports, dogbone editor for inner contour milling, big improvements to footprint positioning and moving, improvements to the command line interface (picture rendering in mainline!), and support for even more 3D export standards, including STL. Oh, add to that, export of silkscreen and soldermask into 3D models – finally!

Apart from that, there’s, of course, a ton of bugfixes and small features, ~1500 new symbols, ~750 footprints, and, documentation has been upgraded to match and beyond. KiCad 10 already has big plans, too – mostly engine and infrastructure improvements, making KiCad faster, smarter, and future-proof, becoming even more of impressive software suite and a mainstay on an average hacker’s machine.

For example, KiCad 10 will bring delay matching, Git schematic and PCB integrations, PNG plot exports, improved diffpair routers, autorouter previews, design import wizard, DRC and length calculation code refactoring, part height support, and a few dozen other things!

We love that KiCad updates yearly now. Every FOSDEM, we get an influx of cool new features into the stable KiCad tree. We’re also pretty glad about the ongoing consistent funding they get – may they get even more, in fact. We’ve been consistently seeing hackers stop paying for proprietary PCB software suites and switching to KiCad, and hopefully some of them have redirected that money into a donation towards their new favorite PCB design tool.

Join the pro club, switch to the new now-stable KiCad 9! If you really enjoy it and benefit from it, donate, or even get some KiCad merch. Want to learn more about the new features? Check out the release blog post (many cool animations and videos there!), or the running thread on KiCad forums describing the new features&fixes in length, maybe if you’re up for video format, check out the KiCad 9 release talk recording (29m48s) from this year’s FOSDEM, it’s worth a watch.

OpenSCAD has a lot of fans around these parts — if you’re unaware, it’s essentially a code-based way of designing 3D models. Instead of drawing them up in a CAD program, one writes a script that defines the required geometry. All that is made a little easier with the Belfry OpenSCAD Library (BOSL2).

BOSL2 has an extensive library of base shapes, advanced functions for manipulating models, and some really nifty tools for creating attachment points on parts and aligning components with one another. If that sounds handy for designing useful objects, you’re in for even more of a treat when you see their functions for gears, hinges, screws, and more.

There’s even one that covers bottle necks and caps. (Those are all standardized by the way, so it’s never been easier to interface to existing bottles or caps in a project.)

OpenSCAD really is very versatile software. It powers useful tools like this screw, washer, and nut generator as well as having more unusual applications like a procedural terrain generator. It’s free, so if you’ve never looked into it, check it out!

Rev up your browsers, package managers, or whatever other tool you use to avail yourself of new software releases, because the KiCAD team have announced that barring any major bugs being found in the next few hours, tomorrow should see the release of version 9 of the open source EDA suite. Who knows, depending on where you are in the world that could have already happened when you read this.

Skimming through the long list of enhancements brought into this version there’s one thing that strikes us; how this is now a list of upgrades and tweaks to a stable piece of software rather than essential features bringing a rough and ready package towards usability. There was a time when using KiCAD was a frustrating experience of many quirks and interface annoyances, but successive versions have improved it beyond measure. We would pass comment that we wished all open source software was as polished, but the fact is that much of the commercial software in this arena is not as good as this.

So head on over and kick the tires on this new KiCAD release, assuming that it passes those final checks. We look forward to the community’s verdict on it.